Who Will Be Bank of Canada’s Next Leader?

The appointment of Canada’s new top central banker is down to the wire, if Finance Minister Jim Flaherty plans to keep to his timeline to name Mark Carney’s successor by the end of the month. More recently, he’s signaled he may not be in a hurry, after all. Last week, he told reporters the decision would come “in the fullness of time.” In any case, here’s Canada Real Time’s unscientific handicapping of who’s in the race to run the Bank of Canada at this late stage:

Still the Favorite?

Tiff Macklem: Currently, the bank’s senior deputy governor, he has impeccable credentials. He worked closely with Mr. Flaherty as a senior official in the finance ministry during the financial crisis and was a key player in the government bail-out of the auto sector. He’s publicly said he’d take the job if offered.

But recently, the sense of inevitability around his candidacy has started to evaporate. CRT wrote last week that some Ottawa watchers think Mr. Flaherty and his boss, the prime minister, might surprise. Muddying the waters, John Ivison at the National Post tweeted Friday that Mr. Macklem wasn’t getting the job, citing unnamed sources.

Mr. Macklem, and the other candidates mentioned here, declined to comment after repeated attempts to reach them.

No. 2 to the No. 2

Stephen Poloz: Chief executive of the Export Development Canada, the government-owned export credit agency, he worked for 14 years at the central bank before leaving for BCA Research, an investment research firm in the early 1990s. A good compromise candidate, one former central bank advisor says, if the government does indeed bypass Mr. Macklem.

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